The principal officers of E-Gold have been indicted on charges they allowed the service to be used by criminals in financial scams and child porn operations. Their online payment system offered users the ability to convert currency into its worth in stored physical gold.
In the DoJ's announcement of the E-Gold sting, an FBI spokesperson linked online payment systems to terrorism.
More around the web: DoJ announcement on DOJ website, and pr-inside.com. Reports in Washington Post, CNET. (Thanks, Tom B)
Reader comment: Charles says,
Reading about the DOJ takedown of E-Gold made me think about the UIGEA (The anti-internet poker bill: Link ).
While the outspoken public opposition to internet gambling came from B&M casinos (who don't get a cut yet) and from anti-gambling prudes, I think the bulk of the support is really because of the offshore, unregulated eWallets that are used to fund online gambling accounts. Without proper regulation, the prospect of money laundering and illicit transfers is not insubstantial. The poker community is rightfully up in arms about the regulaton of poker by Puritans but they should take seriously the real concerns of the government about the Wild West that is international internet banking.
Golden Bastard says,
E-Gold's founder responded to the charges here: Link.
